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Archive for January, 2011

When I was a child, I was Catholic because it was my mother’s religion, I went to church twice a week, went to Sunday school/bible studies, camping trips with my church friends, I had a tutor from church who met with me at our house every week to discuss my bible reading. I’ve read the entire bible 4 times in my life (first one was in Chinese).

I have been an Atheist since I was 13 or 14. I never bought into the stories of the bible. I understand the messages it convey but never quite understood the constant act of physically going to church and re-reading the scriptures. I remember as a child hearing roughly the same things again and again every other week or so. Sometime in 7th or 8th grade I decided that I would no longer attend church as I felt that I had gotten all I can from this God my mother made me pray to. I felt that I had been lied to all my my life (at 13) that all my prayers went unanswered day after day, year after year. I distinctly remember being suspended from school because I got into a “fight” with a fat kid who sat on me…it really wasn’t a fight since he knocked me down and really just sat on me. Why was I suspended?Where was God then? I know, I know, God has more pressing matters at hand. But still as a child I needed an answer.

When my father passed away due to complications stemming from Lung Cancer, my disbelief in a deity of any sort was further reinforced. He was a good man, Buddist, not Christian or Catholic, but he was a good man all the same and I’m not saying that because I’m biased. Like me, he never smoked, never drank, never did anything that was deemed inappropriate or wrong in his entire life, he was well educated and has been a working man since he was 11. Yet he died a slow painful death at the age of 55 after years of surgery, chemo, radiation, spreading of cancer, other organ failures, etc.)…and here we are today, people living “in sin” everywhere. People killing in the name of God, etc. These are the reason I verbally abuse Jehovah’s witnesses and any religious people who argue with my lack of beliefs.

So I read this a few days ago and thought it was very interesting. I think all religious people who tries to push their beliefs to us Atheists need to argue like this, If they talked like this, they would shut me up quick…read to the end to find -out who the student was.

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the problem Science has with God. He asked one of his new Christian students to stand.

Professor: You are a Christian, aren’t you, son?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Professor: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Professor: My brother died of cancer, even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn’t. How is God good, then? Hmm?

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Professor: So who created evil?

(Student didn’t answer)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immortality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them?

(Student had no answer)

Professor: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son.. have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your God.

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God, for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Professor: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, Science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my Faith.

Professor: Yes, Faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as Cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student: No, sir, there isn’t.

(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of Heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was a pon-drop silence in the Lecture Theatre)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light… But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and it’s called Darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, You would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is, your Philosophical Premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?

(The class was in uproar)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? .. No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable and Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on Faith, son.

Student: That is it, sir.. exactly! The link between man and God is Faith. That is all that keeps things alive and moving!

That student was Albert Einstein

BRILLIANTLY ARGUED SIR

I read this on Gizmodo, it was written by Jason Chen, just thought it was funny . It was too long to tweet, thought I’d post it here. I wonder it the horde of new Verizon iPhone users will slow down their network, and at the same time would all the people leaving AT&T’s iPhone relieve the pressure that’s been on the network for the past 3.5 years?

“Are you excited? Verizon iPhone. It’s like finding out that the father that left you in the care of your abusive mother for four years—the same father who promised to show up for Christmas every year but didn’t—is finally really back to take you off her hands”

I’ve been quiet for a while since I tend to “Mico-blog” via Twitter and I vent all my frustrations and ideas through that these days. I do keep a little .txt file with ideas on what to write and complain about but just haven’t gotten around to actually typing them out yet. But this post made by Natali Morris née Del Conte made me crawl out from blogging hibernation. If you don’t want to hear me rant or offend you, go directly to this post: http://dadblast.com/?p=524 and read what she wrote that makes me know she will be a great mother and should be an example to all parents. I think everyone needs to realize that you CANNOT think and be the same person you were once you are a parent. It would be wrong and irresponsible.

As anyone who knows me personally or has ever read a few of my blog posts or tweets know, I’m very much a “Debbie-Downer”, I’m known to find the bad in everything, and hate on things that doesn’t necessarily even matter to most poeple. Yes, I say I do not like children. I say this not because I hate kid, I actually don’t, There’s nothing cuter than a child’s innocent smile. I taught swimming for 13 years and enjoyed that feeling when one of my kids finally gets it and improves dramatically because of something I taught them. At times I actually want to have two of my own (not that my fiancé would say yes to that). I just don’t like people’s reasons for having children and many of these parents have no parenting skills and are not willing to learn them. For all those children I cringe at, it’s not your fault I label you as the a-hole child that just won’t shut up, it’s your parents’ fault because they think your crying is “cute” or that running freely around a restaurant is a safe thing for a child to do. Or you as a 12 year old child is allowed to call me an a-hole because I didn’t buy your chocolate bar in front of a grocery store. No you effed up father, you should tell your child not to use profanity at that age THEN try to guilt me into giving him a dollar.

Natali Morris brings up some very good points in her post regarding her 2011 New Year Contemplations (as opposed to “resolutions”) that I think people who wants to have children should pay attention to. At my current old age of 31, many of my friends, colleagues and acquaintances have had a child or two, some are pregnant or will be in the coming year or so. However many of them are living the same lifestyle they did before the child came along. They head out to happy hour, bars and clubs when they should be at home caring for their children, spending $2,000 on a purse instead of saving up for the kid’s expensive future (college is getting pricier every year), listen to their music loudly and drive….like me (not a good thing) with their child in the car. Sometimes they leave their kids with the grandparents while they head over to Vegas for a few days, other times they take them along to restaurants where they are free to cry and interrupt other people’s meal time conversations. I’ve been to weddings where babies are crying and the parent just sit there as if they weren’t the ones ruining someone’s wedding memories. Here are some of the points Natali made in regards to the way her priorities have or needs to change due to her new job title (mother).

Then: Stay on top of your housework.
Now: Learn to be okay with being a little behind in housework so that you don’t miss out on quality family time.

Then: Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Now: Make sure your family eats more fruits and vegetables.

Then: Get enough sleep.
Now: Get some sleep.

Then: Be a good daughter, sister, friend, and coworker.
Now: Be a good wife, mother, and all of the above.

Then: Try not to be so selfish with your time.
Now: Try to be a little more selfish with your time.

Our family and friends wants us to have kids because “It’s the right thing to do”, “We need you to pass on the family name”, “They will be cute, you two are good looking people”, “It’s weird not to when you are married”, “who’s going to take care of you when you get old and sick”, “They’ll be fun to play with”, “You guys can go ahead and work, I’ll take care of the kids for you”. Here’s are a few of MY reasons for having children if I ever do, it is still a selfish reason as I think most people’s reasons are (because in summary, I want to do it to be better parents than mine):

I would guide someone who is better than myself 100%. Teach him or her all the mistakes I’ve made, witnessed and avoided. You may say I should just work at a Boy’s & Girl’s Club or be a teacher. I want to be there 100% of the way from their birth ’til my death.

Be positive about the decisions they make, unlike my parents who forced me out of what was my passion (Marine Biology). At the same time, I want them to have the guts to say no to me when the time and reason is right.

I want them to love life and get everything out of it that I was never able to, yet be civil while doing so. Don’t pursue to be a successful musician if your passion is the fame and fortune. The passion for music needs to be the drive.

In the end I want to be able to spoil them unlike what my abusive and controlling parents did to me (this is the bad parenting part) at the same time I want them to truly know the value of a dollar and be humble and appreciative of how lucky we all are to have everything we do. Freedom is not free. Just because we live in a peaceful neighborhood where we worry about stuff like whether there’s traffic or not doesn’t mean that hundreds, thousands of kids out there aren’t still fighting for our freedom. There are too many kids and even adults who just don’t understand that the world doesn’t revolve around you. Please each your children the bigger picture.

Like Chris Rock said/joked. Our only job as a parent is to “keep your daughter off the pole” I feel that many parents (not most, not all) are creating douche-bags and whores (sorry for the harsh language). The entertainment industry is not helping with tv programs that are clearly bad…Ed Hardy and Rock Republic on little kids is just the wrong message all around, Let children be children.